A bright and beautiful real-life wedding from Annabelle and Samuel

The proposal

Samuel decided to try and fool his girl, so she wouldn’t have any clue that a proposal was just around the corner. “Sam told me he had to travel to Gloucestershire to collect a part for work and asked me to go with him,” remembers Annabelle. “Without me knowing, he had packed us an overnight bag; clothes, hair straighteners, my make-up and hidden it in the boot of the car. As we drove following the Sat Nav, it took us further into the countryside, and I said to Sam that I thought it was taking us the wrong way. He replied saying we would follow it until it said we were at the destination, just in case. About 10 minutes later we pulled into a long drive leading up to a castle (Thornbury Castle). At this point I said to Sam that we were obviously lost and that he should call work for the address, but he calmly told me that this is where we were staying! After he had checked us in, we were led to our suite, which was in one of the castle’s turrets. I turned around and Sam was down on one knee with the most beautiful engagement ring I had ever seen, asking me to be his wife,” she adds

The bride’s outfit

Our bride looked so alluring in her full-length, sultry gown from Francesca Bridalwear in Leicester. “I actually felt relieved when I tried this dress on – it had been a long day searching for ‘the one’, with me feeling really overwhelmed. Despite the size being too big, I could really see and feel its potential, which made me feel so sure it was the perfect design for me,” she adds

The bridesmaids

“The bridesmaids were my theme! Their dresses set the whole colour scheme, everything was based on our four colours of hot pink, pale pink, bright orange and peach,” explains Annabelle. Their dresses were bespoke creations from a local dress maker in Leicester

The ceremony

Annabelle and Samuel’s ceremony was a musical affair, with the bride’s entrance music being Kissing You by Des’ree and a reading that was the lyrics to Rapture by Iio, which was also the couple’s first dance

The reception

Using bespoke stationery from Mooks Designs, Annabelle decorated her reception room – even the wine bottles and place settings were in keeping with their bespoke striped pattern. “My sister and her sister-in-law made our cupcake tower and topper. We cut the cake straight after the ceremony and had the cupcakes with the arrival drinks instead of canapés, to save money and make sure that the cake was eaten,” says Annabelle

The honeymoon

Annabelle and Samuel took an exotic trip to Hong Kong and Bali for two weeks.

Alice is a keen cyclist and also absolutely loves vintage clothes. She doesn't wear them while cycling though, that would be silly. The owner of two Guinea Pigs called Ronnie and Reggie, she's also a twin herself!

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